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Title: Ab Initio Study of Carbon Impurities in Cu$$_2$$ ZnSnS$$_4$$

Abstract

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) is a highly promising absorber material for efficient and low-cost solar cells. In a cost-effective method of production of high-quality CZTS, nanocrystals of precursor compounds, solved in an amine solution, are deposited on a substrate and sulfurized. Here, this can generally lead to considerable residual carbon in the final samples, in the form of separate amorphous layers as observed experimentally, but also incorporated in the CZTS matrix. In this study, preferred configurations, bonding characteristics, formation energies, and ionization levels of carbon-related defects in CZTS are calculated, including interstitials, single- and double-carbon antisites, and complexes of those with intrinsic defects. For different growth conditions of carbon, the set of dominant defects is determined, and the resulting total carbon concentrations are discussed with respect to experimental values.

Authors:
 [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1579864
Grant/Contract Number:  
EE0004946
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381
Publisher:
IEEE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; computational modeling; crystalline materials; photovoltaic cells; solar energy; thin-film devices

Citation Formats

Mutter, Daniel, and Dunham, Scott T. Ab Initio Study of Carbon Impurities in Cu$_2$ ZnSnS$_4$. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2521488.
Mutter, Daniel, & Dunham, Scott T. Ab Initio Study of Carbon Impurities in Cu$_2$ ZnSnS$_4$. United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2521488
Mutter, Daniel, and Dunham, Scott T. Tue . "Ab Initio Study of Carbon Impurities in Cu$_2$ ZnSnS$_4$". United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2521488. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1579864.
@article{osti_1579864,
title = {Ab Initio Study of Carbon Impurities in Cu$_2$ ZnSnS$_4$},
author = {Mutter, Daniel and Dunham, Scott T.},
abstractNote = {Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) is a highly promising absorber material for efficient and low-cost solar cells. In a cost-effective method of production of high-quality CZTS, nanocrystals of precursor compounds, solved in an amine solution, are deposited on a substrate and sulfurized. Here, this can generally lead to considerable residual carbon in the final samples, in the form of separate amorphous layers as observed experimentally, but also incorporated in the CZTS matrix. In this study, preferred configurations, bonding characteristics, formation energies, and ionization levels of carbon-related defects in CZTS are calculated, including interstitials, single- and double-carbon antisites, and complexes of those with intrinsic defects. For different growth conditions of carbon, the set of dominant defects is determined, and the resulting total carbon concentrations are discussed with respect to experimental values.},
doi = {10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2521488},
journal = {IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics},
number = 2,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Tue Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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